Some people say the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was a joke made up to satirize creationism and the incursion of fundamentalist religion into politics. Other people seem to see their religious icons everywhere they look. Still others promote their beliefs through the military.
I think these folks ought to get together. Or maybe they already did:
People say there are no atheists in foxholes… but maybe there is a higher authority.
Tip o’ the noodly appendage to Jay Sinclair.
Credit: US Air Force and Tech. Sergeant Russell E. Cooley IV
January 26th, 2010 at 11:44 am
…and it is C-17 pilots that expend full aircraft loads of countermeasure flare over the middle of nowhere that keep me busy.
IYAAYAS
January 26th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Oddly enough, I’ve also seen that pic floating around the web titled Angel Wings. People see in pictures like that what they want to. Nice illustration of vortices and shockwaves around an aerodynamic body, though. Personally, I prefer to worship the Invisible Pink Unicorn (Blessed Be Her Hooves) to the messiness of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
January 26th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
That photo looks like an Owl version of Gandalf from Lord of the Rings.
January 26th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
There is a video of this holy pasta apparition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mIEIZ2x1JE
January 26th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Clearly, the atmospheric phenomenon is the result of a UFO, just like the pictures of those spirals from a couple weeks ago.
January 26th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Well, it was the Flying Spaghetti Monster that taught us right from mostly right. And FSM loves us. But I don’t think you’ll ever see FSM qoutes on a gun, except for maybe “Warning; Potentially Harmful to the User and By-standards.”
January 26th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Ramen, brother, ramen.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Jamey: How can you say that, after viewing that photograph? What more proof do you need?
1. The Invisible Pink Unicorn cannot be seen.
2. Seeing is believing. Therefore:
3. The Invisible Pink Unicorn cannot be believed.
That’s a syllogism, so it must be true.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Well, I’d say I see … two brides with veils, choking one another. Possibly over the groom.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
RAMEN!
January 26th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
“Blessed be Her Hooves” caused me to cackle inappropriately in a quiet office.
I prefer to follow all references to the FSM with, “And praise be unto him”.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Hmmmm sorry if this double posts…
First we have biblical inscriptions on gun-sights then we have the Air Force making FSMs in the sky, whats next this on tanks?
http://www.hasbro.com/mylittlepony/en_US/discover/meet-the-ponies.cfm
January 26th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
I see a goofy looking Muppet sorta thing… aside from it actually is.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
You are all heretics. It is a guy with googly eyes, curiously long eyebrows and ‘stache.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
SATAN’S RIBCAGE!
http://inlinethumb04.webshots.com/45763/2581072140104237032S600x600Q85.jpg
January 26th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Definitely lesbian brides. (But only in certain states.)
January 26th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
No this is a space invader they frist invaded arcades in 1978 and were balsted by millons of video game players since then they keep comeing back to home and portable systems since I’m a veteran of the space invaders war I’m redy to defend planet Earth again
January 26th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
By the way even thro I’m Catholic I try to understand other religons and be tloerent where can I find out about this flying spgetti monster religon? dose it have scared scrpiture I could study? what are its beliefs ? Do the have some kind of services? prayers?meditation?preists ? how about there views on the afterlife do they beleve in heven or reincartion?
January 26th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
In nomine Orzo, et Ziti, et Spiritus Spaghetti
January 26th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
youre a joke. every time I come to this site you have a religious post up. last time it was the cow with an ankh birthmark or something. pathetic. I dont come to discover to read about your stupid religious war. get a real science writer in here. its sad that you’ll never realize youre even more religious than the people you make fun of.
January 26th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
@mike burkhart: Aside from clicking the link in the article, more info can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/dboxyb
January 26th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
@mike burkhart
You can find out more about His Most Holy Noodliness here.
January 26th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Its the coke that Woody Allen sneezes all over the place in Annie Hall…
January 26th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Behold the Lord of Pasta in all his Noodley Greatness!
January 26th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Paramakaronia!
January 26th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
As I always must ask: Do you follow the Marinara, or the Afredo? Be careful how you answer that, lest you be labled a heretic!
Oh, and just so you know, I and many of my brothers and sisters in arms are proof that the “foxhole” canard is just so much bull**** as many of the other canards that are spouted.
January 26th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
FSM FTW.
I doubt there are any shockwaves coming off a C-17. It would probably be in an uncontrollable dive if that were the case. Might be interesting to see though.
January 26th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
So what are you waiting? This is the clear proof! Those are chemtrails, made to control our mind and force us to eat potatoes instead of spaghetti!
January 26th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
xot (#20): Hmmm, no capitalization, logical fallacies, fact-free attacks, strawman arguments. Not bad for an attempt at trolling, but really, no spelling mistakes? How are we to take you seriously?
4/10
January 26th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Phil:
You forget the lack of proper punctuation (“youre”? “dont”? “its”?) with certain words, but shows he is capable of it at other moments (“you’ll”).
xot is, in short, a putz, but I give him a 5/10 for his effort…
January 26th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
[...] protect us! http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/01/26/fsm-protect-us/ codinghorror – Tue 26 Jan 22:38 0 votes previous next Sorry, [...]
January 26th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
If the last time he checked in on your blog was the cross cow, he is not much of a regular. And he does not seem to understand the use of commas. This is a great shot, but I must admit I did not see the FSM in it till I read that part.
January 26th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
We’ve been working on that.
http://www.venganza.org/2006/12/29/his-noodlyness-image-appears-in-baghdad/
and…hoping another link doesn’t send this post off to the never-never..
http://www.venganza.org/2008/02/25/iraq-chapter/
TBHNA
January 26th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
(#29) and (#30) Spraying diet coke and granules of ice through the nose at the computer keyboard is neither easy to do nor fun, but your responses managed that with a generous helping of choking… the only thing that would have topped that would have been a picture of you guys holding the scores, ice-skating style.
Bravo!
January 26th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
@ #20 xot:
You must have some bad timing. Phil doesn’t touch on religion very often.
If there is a god, I would like to think it has a sense of humor. Perhaps you should emulate it.
January 26th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
@One Eyed Jack
God? Not that I haven’t considered auto-theism as a serious prospect.
January 26th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
I’ve always liked that shot (got it saved off here, somewhere!) I became a pastafarian several years ago, when He touched me with His Noodly Appendage!
All Hail!
(makes as much sense as most everything else…)
January 26th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
@19 UltraHolland… And the appropriate response is…
RAMEN, my noodlies!
And, OF COURSE his Noodly Goodness is made manifest through the bravery of our airborne brothers and sisters — for, lo, verily, it is said his sign is created from the jets at the end of the fusilli-age. And, you can see in His Holy Countenance, the suggestion of a Mostacciolli.
January 26th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Am I the only one to think of The Wicker Man? I have to say that I saw the movie so long ago, and as a kid, that I only have vague memories of the thing. Still, there’s something about that image…
January 26th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
I’m a First Church of Buster follower meself. I can find things that could have once been a part of Buster nearly everywhere!
http://www.mythbustersfanclub.com/church/buster.htm
January 26th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
It seems like the trolls forget that Bad Astronomy has always been about debunking the bunk. It’s just expanded from Planet X and astrological numbnuttery to taking pokes at medical quackery and SkyGod Crankypants.
The trolls aren’t even well-researched trolls. But they’re the most likely visitors willing to buy a bridge.
January 26th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
I think it’s really rude to take photos of anyone in the act of mating – even flying spaghetti monsters.
January 26th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
He has appeared elsewhere, too, like my bathtub: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24049224@N04/4176756424/
I felt his warm and saucy embrace comforting me. Either that or the hot water, not sure which.
January 26th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
“It looks like Spirit’s current location on Mars will be its final resting place.”
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/news/mer20100126.html
====
We rescued Hubble, we can save Spirit!
January 26th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
I’m with Old Geezer. First thing I saw was two lesbian brides. Clearly God is instructing us to follow the example of places like Iowa, Vermont, Belgium and South Africa.
January 26th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
It’s definitely His Holy Noodliness. He appears in many forms (for instance in an angel’s wings or as two lesbian brides). We are meant to discern these false appearances to truly savour his Congealedness. All hail the Noodles (I think I worked with him briefly, a safety hand a few years back if I remember rightly). Ramen.
Where does this stuff come from? Is there a great quack somewhere in the Universe that says, “Let’s see what they make of this?”
January 26th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Phil Plait Said:
“xot (#20): Hmmm, no capitalization, logical fallacies, fact-free attacks, strawman arguments. Not bad for an attempt at trolling, but really, no spelling mistakes?”
Mike Wagner Said:
“The trolls aren’t even well-researched trolls. But they’re the most likely visitors willing to buy a bridge.”
Question: What’s worse than being a troll?
Answer: Waving one’s hands to dismiss all critics as mere trolls.
You guys really could stand to be more magnanimous than this.
January 26th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
#44.
It is disappointing given the surprising amount of progress they seem to have made in the extrication effort over the past couple of Sols.
Word is that this came from NASA higher-ups who were sick of the team spending so much time/money on extrication rather than doing in-situ science. But I can’t see how this “iron core” experiment isn’t something Phoenix couldn’t have done if they really thought it was that important.
January 26th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
owlbear1 Said:
“We rescued Hubble, we can save Spirit!”
Sorry, but the spirit ain’t strong enough.
January 26th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
#49
Spirit hasn’t been Opportunistic enough…
January 26th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Wow! This is a really cool picture…..but spiritual? Nah!
January 26th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
Flying Spaghetti Fairy my __. It’s the Lorax.
January 26th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
Amazing! The eyes, the tentacles – just as its described in the gospel. AArrhhh! Shiver me timbers, if this isn’t a miracle, then there’s no such thing as a miracle!!
January 27th, 2010 at 12:51 am
I saw two non-gender-specific people (hey, I’m non-discriminatory) with long hair and long clothes (dresses? Robes?) holding hands. That’s almost lesbian brides, right?
January 27th, 2010 at 1:15 am
Ramen!
Phil you made my day with this one!
It be a good day to be a pastafarian!
January 27th, 2010 at 1:41 am
@54
I see a really stoned Santa Clause wearing Elton John spectacles.
January 27th, 2010 at 3:30 am
Come into my tentacles!
January 27th, 2010 at 4:08 am
[...] El monstruo de Spaghetti volador existe (Humor) blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/01/26/fsm-prote… por Ze7eN hace 3 segundos [...]
January 27th, 2010 at 4:32 am
YeaH.. Okay.. NOW I’ve seen it all!
January 27th, 2010 at 6:47 am
@Chip,
According to the video, that’s the smoke pattern you get when the jet releases flares to evade enemy missiles. So, in essence, they are calling upon the FSM to protect themselves from harm! (Either that, or they’re calling on a lesbian brides to protect them.)
January 27th, 2010 at 7:05 am
Phil, I think you need to make MORE posts that have awesome military hardware! Always been a big fan of the “angel wings” defensive flares, they look so unique. Who says an AC-130 can’t be beautiful?
January 27th, 2010 at 7:25 am
It’s obviously a sign that G-d approves of gay marriage! After all, it’s clearly two women, in bridal gowns and veils, facing each other, holding hands.
(Darn, TechyDad [58] beat me to it.)
January 27th, 2010 at 8:30 am
If it’s invisible, how do you know it’s pink?
Added: And why would the above sentence require moderation? What’s the doubleminus ungood word? Pink?
January 27th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
QuietDesperation, perhaps for the same (dumb) reason the venerable Canadian history magazine recently decided to change its storied name from The Beaver to something very banal.
January 27th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Yes this is a space invader its one from the top ranks that are worth 50 points when shot this is a surpise that they would be back after they returned in the 90s on PS and GBA and attacked every planet in the solar system we went on the ofenceve on there home world (location classified) and destoryed there leader we thought that was the last we see of them but it lookes like we were worng there back and we have to go red alert thanks Phill for alerting us
January 27th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
WJM – your mention of The Beaver reminds me of a similar thing in North Vancouver, BC.
We used to have a big shipyard on the North Shore (as we call it), which among other things built Liberty Ships during the war and in its heyday covered a huge chunk of waterfront. If you came down St. Georges street towards the harbour you could see part of it right in front of you: a very tall grey sheet-metal building with a very prominent sign reading Erection Shop.
It never failed to raise a giggle from the kids in the car, and a smile from the adults, and we often wondered how long it would stay there before some bluestocking complained loud enough to get it taken down. Well, decades, as it turned out, during eras much more straitlaced than ours, since it wasn’t until somewhere in the Eighties that the sign was altered to read Assembly Shop.
Another (tiny, stupid, but ultimately dangerous) win for the self-appointed Morality Police.
January 27th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Maybe it’s Fl–ng Sp-gh-tt- M-nst-r who approves of gay marriage.
January 27th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Good heavens, >49, what on earth would they make of an entire town named Dildo? (And its suburb, South Dildo?)
January 27th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
@47 T.E.L.
When someone shows up to a blog that has a long history of debunking BS of all kinds, but simply has a name dedicated to the primary interest and topic, and then claims that it’s bad faith for the writer of said blog to pick on any other subject BUT astronomy it’s trolling.
This isn’t “Phil’s Blog About Astronomy And No Other Topics”. He can post about the moon landing in one post. The colors of the underwear he chooses to wear tomorrow in the next. And finally say that teaching intelligent design to children is destructive to wrap up the day. For someone to dictate to him that he is overstepping his bounds by discussing any topic which interests him on his own blog smacks of trollery.
If someone wants to present a dissenting argument, why not do that instead of saying “Stop posting this crap and stick to astronomy!”
If they want ONLY astronomy, they can read just the astronomy posts or read another blog that only posts astronomy stories.
Case closed and they don’t need to whine about it.
January 28th, 2010 at 6:30 am
Mike Wagner,
Where did I ever try to tell Phil what to write about? Nowhere. That’s where.
There’s a terrible, infantile tradition on the internet: slapping the label “Troll” onto people. It’s dangerously close to classifying outsiders as infidels. I’ve seen way too many people dismissed as trolls who had real, true, authentic, honest-to-goodness points of view. I think that’s the case here and now.
And what’s good for the Goose…
If the so-called Troll doesn’t need to whine, then Phil doesn’t need to whine endlessly about politics and religion. But what’s that? Someone says Phil can write what he wants? Well, so can the Troll. If Phil doesn’t want criticism, then he oughtn’t speak in public. That’s the nature of a free society.
January 29th, 2010 at 6:04 am
T E L – where did post 69 say it was you?
January 29th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Certainly more spectacular than appearing on a slice of toast.
January 29th, 2010 at 11:49 am
G. Wiz Said:
“T E L – where did post 69 say it was you?”
At the top of his post, where he said “@47 T.E.L.”.
January 29th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
I didn’t say he was the troll. I was responding to his commentary on the trolls.
January 30th, 2010 at 9:26 am
T.E.L. == “Troll Exoneration League”